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Sunday, August 31, 2014

New York Times Attacks “Hate Consuming” ObamaCare Opponents

Clergyman: “ I was interested to see a Bible by your bed. You actually find time to read it?” General Patton. “I sure do. Every goddamn day.”

From the movie Patton (1970)
Both read the the Bible day and night,

But thou read’st black where I read white.

William Blake ( 1767-1827¬), The Everlasting Gospel

I read the New York Times every day. It is the Democrats’ Bible.

Its health reporters, like Robert Pear, are excellent. But its editorial writers are ideologues who never pull their punches when supporting ObamaCare. Their attitude is that conservatives are hateful moral degenerates for opposing the health law.

Take these opening paragraph in today’s editorial "Endless Assault on Health Reform."

“The opponents of the Affordable Care Act make secret of their consuming hatred for the law that has already provided health care to millions of lower-income people.”

The phrase “consuming hatred” is over the top. Conservatives are not hateful people. They are ordinary Americans. They oppose ObamaCare 55% to 37% in the latest poll averages. The majority of Americans do not like rising premiums, loss of doctors and health plans, millions of health plan cancellations, negative effects on employment, which are turning 90% of new U.S. workers into part-time employees, and the wholesale redistribution of health benefits from the middle-class to lower income people.

In its editorial, the Times is “tarring and feathering” conservatives and the federal appeal court in D.C. for voting 2:1 that the ACA could only offer subsidies to members of state health exchanges, rather than federal exchanges, because that’s what the precise wording of the law said. The Times calls the D.C. court decision a “ridiculously crabbed view” to take the exact wording of the law seriously.

Well, now, I do not know what “ridiculously crabbed view” means. But to call conservatives “ridiculously crabbed” sounds profoundly condescending to me. It smacks of moral superiority, of effete snobs at work. Belittling your opponents by referring to them as full of “consuming hatred” for a flawed law and having a “ridiculous” view of the law are not hallmarks of tolerance and fairness.

Perhaps future editorials in the liberal Bible will explain. The Bible teaches tolerance towards others, rather than doing unto them what you think they are doing unto you.

The Health Reform Maze

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Book Description: In this first book in a series of four, Richard L. Reece, MD. provides a unique view of the roll out, and run up, of the Affordable Care Act. Reece shows in this book the progress and facets of ObamaCare's marketers and messengers, as the day approached for the launch of health insurance exchanges - the single most public and problematic portion of the new law. This is a must read for anyone who wants to chronicle this attempt to organize more than one-sixth of the U.S. economy by adding layers of federal government control and regulations.

Reece has been writing about U.S. health care for more than 45 years. His knowledge and experience, added to his keen intellect and gift of subtle humor, make this book a valuable part of anyone's collection.